The Incident Room
A gripping new drama about the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper
📅 Talk-up: 11th August
🎭 Auditions: 13th August
About the Play
It’s 1977. The Millgarth Incident Room in Leeds is the epicentre of the biggest manhunt in British history — the search for one of the most notorious serial killers of the 20th century, the Yorkshire Ripper.
With public and political pressure mounting, hundreds of officers work around the clock, resorting to increasingly audacious measures to end his campaign of terror. Incident Room centres on a handful of the key officers and individuals caught up in that struggle.
This is a beautifully crafted, engaging play — full of drama, snappy dialogue and unexpected humour, building to a poignant ending that will move audiences to tears. It focuses on the frustrations of the five-year police operation itself. Peter Sutcliffe never appears as a character, and is only referenced once he is finally captured. This is not his story.
It is about those who struggled to stop him for so many years — and the memory of the thirteen women he murdered while they tried.
First staged in 2019 to widespread critical acclaim, this production brings creative, contemporary staging that will be as visually striking as it is dramatically compelling.
Characters
| Character | Role | Age | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Megan Winterburn (‘Meg’) | Police Sergeant | Late 20s–30s | |
| Tish Morgan | Yorkshire Post Reporter | Late 20s | Fresh-faced, young |
| Sylvia Swanson | Civilian Police Employee | Mid-40s | Can double with Maureen |
| Andrew Laptew (‘Andy’) | Uniformed Police Officer | Mid-20s | Fresh-faced, young |
| Dick Holland | Deputy Senior Investigating Officer | Late 30s–40s | |
| George Oldfield | Senior Investigating Officer | Late 50s | Should read as older |
| Jim Hobson | Head of the Tyre Enquiry | Early 40s | Can double with Jack |
| Jack Ridgway | Head of Manchester CID | Mid-30s | Can double with Jim |
| Terence Hawkshaw | Taxi Driver & Suspect | Early 30s | |
| Maureen Long | Bradford Resident | 40s | Can double with Sylvia |
Age ranges are a rough guide only and are, for the most part, flexible.
All characters (apart from Jack) should have Yorkshire accents.
The Company
There are no small speaking parts. Alongside the nine named characters (played by a cast of 7, 8 or 9), there are non-speaking background roles as police personnel — for performers who will also handle scene changes and help set the tone in the foyer, bar and box office before curtain and during the interval, as part of a more immersive audience experience.
See you on the 11th!
Andrew Sloman, Director
Rachel Davies, Assistant Director
